Fukuyama Things to Do

Fukuyama Castle was built in 1622. The castle almost survived World War II but was destroyed on August 8, 1945, two days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and one day before Nagasaki. The current castle was rebuilt in 1956.

Inside the keep there are many artifacts, and the view from the top is nice, especially the view of the cathedral, which is not a common site particularly of this gothic style, and the Shinkansen.

The castle is attractive from the outside, but many people do complain that the train station was built too close to the castle and indeed, the train station does block the best view of the castle with its walls and turrets. Still, Fukuyama Castle is worth the visit and there is nothing in the way of the castle keep itself. It has been designated one of Japan's top 100 castles.

The Holocaust Memorial Museum (also called the Holocaust Education Center) is an interesting museum filled with artifacts from the Holocaust collected by Makoto Otsuka after meeting Otto Frank (father of Anne Frank) in 1971. The two men became friends and eventually inspired Makoto to try and educate Japanese people about the Holocaust, because in Japan many people are unaware that it happened. This was the first Holocaust museum ever to be built in Japan. Now there are a few others.

Outside the center is a small chestnut tree planted from a seed from the chestnut tree that stood outside Anne's hiding place. Inside, the museum is small but well-done and still very moving. Before entering the exhibits, watch the video (available in English). Upstairs, there is a wall made of Jerusalem stones in front of the exhibit entrance. The exhibits themselves feature the badges Jews were forced to wear, anti-Jewish propaganda, videos, clothing worn in the concentration camps, items from those that were killed, etc. It's very fascinating and the exhibits are all in English and Japanese.

The next room is dedicated to Anne Frank. There is a recreation of her attic hiding space and a few things from Otto Frank, including the typewriter that he used to transcribe his daughter's diary which has become so famous.

The remembrance room contains pictures of the victims of the shtetl of Eishyshok, a town in which almost all of the citizens were murdered by the Nazis. It also has the shoe of a child victim and the ashes of a victim.

The final area is for temporary exhibits. When I went they had a moving exhibit about the Red Cross visit to the Theresienstadt concentration camp which the Nazis turned into a temporary 'fun' ghetto in order to pass inspection (and they did) and immediately after the inspectors left, began the exterminations again.

The Fukuyama Museum of Art is a modern art museum with permanent exhibits of local artists and some European artists. These are on the bottom floor. There are also special exhibits, typically displayed on the second floor. The special exhibits may or may not feature artists from the area. It's best to check the website to see if the exhibit shown during your stay interests you.

Overall the museum is a bit small but the artwork is still good. A few pieces are outside the museum, as well, and there is a nice view of Fukuyama Castle from the cafe.

Entrance is 300 yen but may be more depending on special exhibits. They should also give you a ticket to the Museum of Calligraphy (on the other side of Fukuyama Station) with your art museum ticket.

Fukuyama Favorites

Favorite thing:
The sites within the Culture Zone offer discounts if you have proof that you visited one of the other sites within the Culture Zone.

The sites include Fukuyama Castle, Hiroshima Prefectural Museum of History, Fukuyama Museum of Art, and the Peace and Human Rights Museum.

If you plan to visit more than one of these sites, before you leave your first destination, ask for the discount card (which they must stamp) and show it at your next destination before paying. If you are going to another after that, you need to do it again wherever you are, because they may take the card.

The entrance fees are not expensive to begin with but even so, it's always nice to save money!

Experience Fukuyama

Top 3 Fukuyama Writers

I took a daytrip to Fukuyama from Okayama, and although the sites are not of the same caliber as many other parts of Japan, I still enjoyed it.
The culture zone includes Fukuyama Castle and a handful...

I lived in Fukuyama for 9 months. It was a great time teaching at Henry Eikaiwa Gakuin.
Did any of you VTers attend the school? The school was next to the Grand Hotel. That is behind the castle which...